{"id":16608,"date":"2019-05-30T01:48:31","date_gmt":"2019-05-30T01:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=16608"},"modified":"2019-05-31T07:29:30","modified_gmt":"2019-05-31T07:29:30","slug":"how-soybeans-became-chinas-most-powerful-weapon-in-trumps-trade-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/how-soybeans-became-chinas-most-powerful-weapon-in-trumps-trade-war\/","title":{"rendered":"How soybeans became China’s most powerful weapon in Trump’s trade war"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ian Sheldon<\/a>, The Ohio State University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Soybeans may not seem all that useful in a war. Nonetheless they\u2019ve become China\u2019s most important weapon in its ever-worsening trade conflict with the U.S.<\/p>\n

China, the world\u2019s biggest buyer of the crop, has reportedly stopped<\/a> purchasing any American soybeans in retaliation for the Trump administration raising tariffs on US$250 billion of Chinese goods. This is very bad news for U.S. farmers. <\/p>\n

While China\u2019s targeting of soybeans may have come as something of a surprise to most Americans, to a professor of agricultural economics<\/a> who studies international commodity markets for a living, this was not at all unexpected.<\/p>\n

Even before the conclusion of the 2016 presidential race, trade analysts were already weighing<\/a> the possibility that China might impose an embargo on U.S. soybean imports based on protectionist rhetoric from both candidates.<\/p>\n

As a result, with the trade war in full swing, American soybean farmers are now among its biggest losers. Here are a few figures that show why.<\/p>\n

Soybeans, by the numbers<\/h2>\n

Soybeans are a crucial part of the global food chain, particularly as a source of protein in the production of hogs and poultry. <\/p>\n

The importance of China<\/a> as a market for soybeans has been driven by an explosion in demand for meat as consumers switch from a diet dominated by rice to one where pork, poultry and beef play an important part. Chinese production of meat from those three animals surged 250%<\/a> from 1986 to 2012 and is projected to increase another 30% by the end of the current decade. However, China is unable to produce enough animal feed itself, hence the need to import soybeans from the United States and Brazil.<\/p>\n

In 2017, the U.S. accounted for $21.4 billion worth of global soybean exports, the second largest after its main competitor Brazil, which exported $25.7 billion. <\/p>\n